Work on the project to install safety equipment at the railroad crossing at Birnie Road and Tina Lane is expected to begin next year.
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LONGMEADOW -- Three months after a safety review determined lights and gates should be installed at the railroad crossing where a plow driver was killed in a collision with a train, the ball was still in Amtrak's court.
The Federal Railroad Administration requested the review after Warren P. Cowles, who worked for the town's Department of Public Works for nearly 30 years, backed his plow truck onto the tracks and into the path of a northbound Amtrak train during a snow storm March 14, 2017. His death was the fifth at the Birnie Road and Tina Lane crossing since 1975.
Guy Bresnahan -- then a manager in the rail and transit division at the state Department of Transportation -- wrote to Paul O'Mara, then the deputy general manager for Amtrak's Northeast Division, on June 29, 2017, asking to "initiate a dialogue" with the railroad about the proposed work.
He followed up a month later, noting in a July 25 email to O'Mara and another Amtrak official, "there has been no movement and the Town of Longmeadow has asked me for your phone number."
"Any help you can provide in getting this unstuck would be appreciated," Bresnahan wrote.
Under an agreement with Amtrak announced this week, MassDOT will pay $700,000 toward the installation of lights, gates and other infrastructure at the crossing, which has been closed to vehicles since the crash. The railroad will pay the remaining 10 percent of the project's cost. The work is expected to begin next year.
Reaching the accord on the improvements -- which town officials have sought since the early 1980s -- was the product of steady pressure by local, state and federal officials, as well as Cowles' family, according to interviews and to documents obtained by The Republican through public records requests.
'A funding source of last resort'
MassDOT's $700,000 commitment to the work comes from a pool of money the state receives through the Federal Highway Administration's Section 130 program. The federal fund was established in 1987 for "the elimination of hazards at railway-highway crossings."
The program -- credited with helping drop fatalities at highway rail crossings 57 percent since it began -- pays 90 percent of a project's cost. In federal fiscal 2019, which began Oct. 1, the program's total allocation is $240 million.
In an email summarizing a site visit May 5, 2017, Bresnahan staked out MassDOT's position on paying for the work by dipping into its Section 130 money.
"I clearly stated that MassDOT's Section 130 resources would only be considered as a funding source of last resort and that until such time as we hear from Amtrak regarding its plans for the crossing, we can't confirm funding options for recommended improvements," he wrote to several colleagues in the department.
But the last resort became the best option for getting the work done.
MassDOT included the project in its Section 130 Work Program for the state's 2018 fiscal year, documents show. A project agreement, meanwhile, shows the Federal Highway Administration originally approved a $738,000 award to MassDOT through the Section 130 program on Sept. 18, 2017.
In the year since, MassDOT spokeswoman Jaquelyn Goddard said Friday, "conversations have been occurring to finalize the cost of the improvements, to finalize the scope of the work to be done, and to reach agreement with Amtrak" regarding the railroad's share of the cost.
Goddard said MassDOT received the signed agreement from Amtrak this week.
"We are pleased to have reached this agreement with Amtrak and have appreciated the involvement in discussions from federal, state and local leaders," she said.
A senator steps in
After the May 5 site visit, the back-and-forth among local, state, federal and railroad officials continued through the summer.
Despite the earlier messages from MassDOT to Amtrak, Michael Stern, the railroad's deputy general counsel, emailed Longmeadow Town Manager Stephen J. Crane on Sept. 11, 2017: "We've had an internal call here on this potential project, and we are unsure if we've seen what you referred to in your call with me as the 'diagnostic analysis' of the crossing."
Crane forwarded the document seven minutes later.
State Sen. Eric Lesser, D-Longmeadow, said U.S. Sen. Edward Markey was "instrumental in helping to break the log jam."
According to the documents The Republican obtained, Markey staffer Daniel Greene emailed David Garriepy, Gov. Charlie Baker's director of federal-state relations, on Oct. 2, 2017.
"We are hearing concerns in Massachusetts regarding the Tina Lane crossing in Longmeadow," Greene wrote. "I'd like to follow up with Amtrak and DOT on the matter to see where this issue stands."
Giselle Barry, Markey's director of communications, said members of Markey's staff attended a briefing with Amtrak and MassDOT later that month.
On Oct. 31, Markey sent a letter -- also signed by U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren and U.S. Rep. Richard E. Neal -- to Amtrak's president and CEO, urging the railroad to work with the town and state to get the project done.
At a Commerce Committee nomination hearing same day, Markey mentioned the crossing as he questioned Leon A. Westmoreland, who was later confirmed as a member of the Amtrak board of directors. "Congressman Westmoreland, if confirmed, how will you address these types of safety issues, where the local community wants to have action taken?" the senator asked.
Markey raised the issue again at the July 26, 2018, hearing for Amtrak board of directors nominee Rick A. Dearborn.
"After five tragic deaths at the Tina Lane and Birnie Road rail crossing, it was past time to give Amtrak the tools and resources needed to enhance safety measures at rail crossings," Markey said Friday. "I'm proud to have helped secure vital federal funding for Longmeadow. It is critical that we hastened the project's approval to ensure we make lifesaving improvements to this crossing as quickly as possible."
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Unsung heroes
At a press conference a stone's throw from the crossing Friday morning, Select Board member Marie Angelides said she wanted to recognize those who worked behind the scenes to move the project forward.
"I want to talk about our unsung heroes -- our employees that quietly have been working really hard to coordinate, to work together with the family, to try to make this happen," she said.
Town records from earlier this year offered glimpses at the project inching along.
In a March report for a Select Board meeting, Crane wrote: "While the design and construction agreement between MassDOT and Amtrak has not been finalized, both agencies have been working together to advance the project."
"Compel State and Federal agencies to address Tina Lane crossing," reads a list of goals included in an April 2 meeting packet.
In their annual evaluations of Crane's performance, Angelides and board member Tom Lachiusa cited his work on the issue.
"Successfully working with numerous agencies to make improvements at the rail crossing," Angelides wrote.
"The Amtrak railroad crossing improvement is getting closer to getting funded and constructed," Lachiusa wrote. "This project has required the Town Manager to work with a number of governmental units and legislators."
Lesser also pointed to the community's role in the effort.
"What really made the difference here was the community stepping up and not taking no for an answer," he said. "That's really what gave us the fuel we needed to make our advocacy effective."
Crane and other officials said Friday that Warren Cowles' sister, Cindy J. Cowles, spurred them throughout the process.
"We miss Cowlsie, but she has done right by her brother," Crane said.
"I've waited a long time for this day, even though I kept being told it's going to be longer," Cindy Cowles, of Springfield, said Friday morning. She had a visit to her 89-year-old mother in Florida planned for Saturday, and was pleased that she'd bring her good news.
"It's long overdue -- something that should have been done," she said. "My brother would probably still be here today if this was done the last -- maybe, say, the second, the third, the fourth death. To have a fifth is kind of a shame. It's kind of a shame."
